1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vehicle door construction and a method of assemblying the vehicle door.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore, doors of motor vehicles are usually composed of a main door body including an inner door panel and an outer door panel and interior door parts such as a window regulator mounted thereon. The main door body is formed by jointing the inner door panel and the outer door panel to each other at their respective circumferential sides excluding the waist line. This causes interior door parts to be mounted on the main door body using a number of working holes formed on the inner door panel.
More specifically, Japanese Patent Publication No. 59,101/1985 discloses a step of mounting interior door parts on the main door body, or a door outfitting step, in which the interior door parts are inserted through working holes having openings on the inner door panel and mounted at predetermined positions inside the main door body. This conventional step presents the difficulties in the assembly of the interior door panels. More specifically, since the interior door parts are inserted through the working holes of the inner door panel and mounted at the predetermined positions, the locus of transferal of the interior door parts is rendered so complex and the inner space of the main door body is so narrow that workability is made less efficient. This construction presents the difficulty in an automatic assembly of the interior door parts and requires a number of skillful workers for assemblying a number of various interior door parts within a predetermined short time of period. In the conventional assembly line, the door outfitting step should be conducted after the painting of the main door body because the interior door parts are mounted on the main door body. This places a limitation on an arrangement for the door outfitting line within the vehicle body assembly line and requires a high level of attention to the assembly of the interior door parts so as not to damage painted surfaces of the outer door panels during the door assembly step. For the conventional door lock constructions, the parts for the door lock mechanisms such as door lock parts and key cylinders are connected to each other with connecting rods. This mounting step should be conducted within a narrow space of the main door body, thus leading to a laborious operation. In the conventional step of mechanism parts for raising or lowering window glass panels, the window regulator mechanism is likewise connected to the window glass panel in a narrow space within the main door body, whereby this assembly is rendered laborious.
Japanese Patent Application Kokai (Laid-Open) No. 163,070/1986 discloses a conventional step of mounting interior door parts on inner door panels. This conventional door construction is such that a majority of the interior door parts are mounted on the inner door panel. Thus this construction requires the inner door panel to be provided with a number of seats for mounting the interior door parts so that a form of the inner door panel is rendered complex.
As shown in Japanese Patent Publication No. 59,101/1985, workings of the door against the main vehicle body is adjusted using door hinges after the inner door panel and the outer door panel were mounted on each other into the main door body. More specifically, in the conventional vehicle body assembly line, the main door body constituted by the inner and outer door panels is temporarily mounted on the vehicle body using the door hinge for the positioning of the door in order to adjust a space between the main door body and the main vehicle body or workings of the door against the main vehicle body. Accordingly, the door hinges should be fastened with bolts, or the positioning of the door should be adjusted, within a narrow space formed between the main vehicle body and the outer door panel of the main door body, thus rendering workability for the adjustment of workings of the door less efficient and this operation laborious.